LA County Superior Court announces changes as part of budget-cutting plan

Within weeks, the next phase of the Los Angeles County Superior Court's reorganization will take place, affecting criminal and traffic cases, a spokeswoman for the courts said Wednesday.

The changes are all part of the reorganization of Los Angeles County's court system brought about by a shortfall in the 2013-2014 budget that is estimated somewhere between $55 million and $85 million, said Mary Hearn spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

In the past months, changes have been announced and have gone into effect involving general civil cases, probate and unlawful detainer cases.

The changes announced Wednesday will go into effect as early as May and as late as June and involve the filing of new criminal cases and the transfer of pending cases in the Central, East, Southeast, South, Northeast and West Judicial Districts of the L.A. County Superior Court.

The dates that cases are to go to court will not change, but changes will occur to the courthouse locations where they will be heard, Hearn said.

Information on the courts reorganization and the changes to the criminal, traffic and non-traffic, infraction cases and citations is available at http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/consolidation/ui/.

The changes made up to this point add up to a total savings of about $56 million, she said.

Should the shortfall be closer to the higher end "we will still have some ways to go" in terms of budget cuts, Hearn said.

The court system is awaiting for Gov. Jerry Brown's May budget revision to determine how the courts will be affected.

"The May revise will help clarify what our budget picture will look like," she said.